'Tough Guy' Farmers Stand Up To Italian Mafia — And Win

Calabria is Italy's poorest region. With local unemployment at 23 percent, many Calabrians face a choice: do business with the mafia or don't work at all. GOEL Bio, gives locals a third option. It did more than try to fix a broken and corrupt economy. Instead, it created an entirely new, alternative economy.

Ashoka Insight

Ashoka Fellow Vincenzo Linarello has created a parallel economy for people in Calabria, Italy as an alternative to being unemployed or knuckling under to the mafia. His Cooperative GOEL Group is based on public participation in ethical commerce.